10 Uses of the Insanity Defense

In June 1993, Lorena Bobbitt infamously cut off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife. She then drove away, throwing the penis out the car window, later to be found alongside the highway and reattached to its original owner.

Lorena pleaded self-defense, claiming her actions were because her husband, John, had raped and abused her for years, and she had post-traumatic stress disorder. A jury found Lorena not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, and she was sent to a psychiatric hospital where she remained for 45 days. If found guilty, Lorena could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.